Today's Paper
» SPORT

Chelsea rallies to beat Sunderland

LONDON: Arjen Robben scored the winning goal in the 70th minute and was promptly sent off for celebrating with the fans while Chelsea held on for a 2-1 win over Sunderland on Sunday in the English Premier League. Lawrence scored the other goal for Chelsea while Hernan Crespo slottef or the Blues.

Robben's chip was deflected in by Sunderland defender Dean Whitehead. He then received his second yellow card for jumping over the advertisements lining the field to celebrate with fans in the stands. Robben was booked in the first half for a challenge on Liam Lawrence.

``I think his first booking was a little bit harsh as well,'' Chelsea captain John Terry said. ``To jump over a board, and as long as you're ... going to celebrate, you've just put us 2-1 up away from home, grinding out a great result, there's no harm in that at all.''

Lawrence gave Sunderland the lead after taking a soft clearance from Terry and shooting past Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.

The Blues levelled 16 minutes later when Hernan Crespo headed in a cross from Joe Cole. Crespo nearly gave Chelsea the lead minutes later but he headed Frank Lampard's cross over the bar.

``We got a bit of a telling off at halftime. We came out and we were much, much better in the second half,'' Terry said.

Chelsea leads the league with 61 points, followed by Manchester United with 45 and Liverpool with 44.

``We've got a great record, 10 on the spin now with Man U losing (on Saturday) as well but Liverpool are looking good and they've got two games in hand,'' Terry said. ``We just need to keep plugging away and keep winning.''

Relegation looms

Relegation looks likely for Sunderland, which was promoted last season. It has won only one game out of 21 so far and earned only six points.

``It's getting harder and harder to suggest that we're going to get out of this,'' Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy said. ``It's becoming increasingly more difficult.''

Earlier, West Brom also won its game with 10 men. Substitute Martin Albrechtsen scored the winning goal at JJB Stadium early in the second half to help the team beat Wigan 1-0.

Darren Moore was sent off in the 43rd minute after getting his second yellow card. Albrechtsen, who came on after the red card, took a cross from Ronnie Wallwork and scored diagonally into the goal for West Brom's first away win of the season.

West Brom goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak ensured the win by making a scrambled diving save to deny Jason Roberts in the final minutes.

``The spirit of the lads was terrific,'' West Brom manager Bryan Robson said. ``It was a great goal from Martin and Tomasz has been playing terrifically well recently. It was a terrific battling performance.''

On Saturday, Manchester City beat crosstown rival Manchester United 3-1, while Liverpool cut the gap on the Red Devils to one point with a 1-0 win over Tottenham.